1 00:00:00,340 --> 00:00:04,540 So once we have either a single session or multiple sessions, 2 00:00:04,540 --> 00:00:08,640 how do we execute commands on those remote computers? 3 00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:12,440 Well, for a single remote session we're able to go, 4 00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:16,470 let's say I have my admin workstation here and I've got my member server, 5 00:00:16,470 --> 00:00:21,560 so in that single remote connection I'm able to pass 6 00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:25,100 commands backwards and forwards dynamically through what's 7 00:00:25,100 --> 00:00:28,240 referred to as the WSMan connection. 8 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:33,050 The WSMan connection is that remote connection between the two machines. 9 00:00:33,050 --> 00:00:35,100 So you can see on the left‑hand side in the 10 00:00:35,100 --> 00:00:37,660 workstation I simply type some commands, 11 00:00:37,660 --> 00:00:41,640 they ran across to the member server and then came back. 12 00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:44,340 So how does that differ for the remote servers? 13 00:00:44,340 --> 00:00:46,650 Well, let's look at our diagram a little bit differently. 14 00:00:46,650 --> 00:00:49,260 So we obviously have the Admin Workstation, 15 00:00:49,260 --> 00:00:51,800 and of course we have Member Server 01 and 02, 16 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:55,280 and you'll see that we have a WSMan connection as well. 17 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:59,510 So I issue a command, it runs from the one machine to the other, 18 00:00:59,510 --> 00:01:03,040 and then it runs across to the other machine as well. 19 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:03,560 So, 20 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:07,500 in a multiple remote session, you execute the commands from the 21 00:01:07,500 --> 00:01:10,920 single entry point on the admin workstation, 22 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:16,580 and it will send those to the remote machines and then return values back. 23 00:01:16,580 --> 00:01:19,660 Now in order for us to execute remote commands, 24 00:01:19,660 --> 00:01:24,310 we need to understand the format or the syntax format that we need to utilize. 25 00:01:24,310 --> 00:01:28,050 The first piece of this is that we're going to use Invoke‑Command, 26 00:01:28,050 --> 00:01:33,600 the cmdlet that will say go and send this command from here to somewhere else, 27 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:36,440 whatever that remote machine would be. 28 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:39,980 We can also then use the script block or file path, 29 00:01:39,980 --> 00:01:41,290 as we've looked at previously, 30 00:01:41,290 --> 00:01:49,350 so either in curly brackets send a PowerShell cmdlet that already exists or a 31 00:01:49,350 --> 00:01:53,240 UNC path to a PowerShell script that we've already created. 32 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:58,140 And then lastly we can send any optional arguments and parameters. 33 00:01:58,140 --> 00:01:59,330 So, for example, 34 00:01:59,330 --> 00:02:01,620 maybe we want to send a variable value that we've 35 00:02:01,620 --> 00:02:04,150 populated and push that down that command. 36 00:02:04,150 --> 00:02:08,200 So we have the ability to create very complex commands that 37 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:12,240 can be ran from the admin workstation and pushed out remotely 38 00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:15,440 to all of the other machines. 39 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:18,740 So, let's walk through a sample PowerShell script, 40 00:02:18,740 --> 00:02:21,450 because the objective here is for us to be able to 41 00:02:21,450 --> 00:02:24,840 execute PowerShell remotely on machines. 42 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:26,010 So the first thing is here, 43 00:02:26,010 --> 00:02:30,340 I want to set a location. So the location is going to be a UNC path, 44 00:02:30,340 --> 00:02:31,950 and you may wonder why we're using that. 45 00:02:31,950 --> 00:02:36,480 We're using a shared location because I need somewhere where 46 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:39,460 all of the machines can gain access back to, 47 00:02:39,460 --> 00:02:41,840 because I want to write some values back. 48 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:45,340 What I'm then going to do is I'm going to set some desktop 49 00:02:45,340 --> 00:02:47,490 settings here in the PowerShell session. 50 00:02:47,490 --> 00:02:50,640 So I'm going to go and get the name of the current computer, 51 00:02:50,640 --> 00:02:55,620 and if the environment variable for COMPUTERNAME is actually empty, 52 00:02:55,620 --> 00:02:59,130 then I'm going to use the CimInstance command to get that, and then I'm going 53 00:02:59,130 --> 00:03:04,640 to go and retrieve information about the desktop itself. 54 00:03:04,640 --> 00:03:08,190 I'm also then going to retrieve the computer manufacturer details. 55 00:03:08,190 --> 00:03:13,440 Notice we're using PowerShell, just regular CimInstance commands to get this. 56 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:16,320 And then I'm going to get the operating system version 57 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:18,830 information as well, so I'm going to be using some commands 58 00:03:18,830 --> 00:03:20,920 called the CimInstance commands. 59 00:03:20,920 --> 00:03:24,660 This just allows me to query information on Windows 60 00:03:24,660 --> 00:03:27,540 devices and kind of present that back. 61 00:03:27,540 --> 00:03:28,720 So that's our first bit. 62 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:31,290 So we're setting the Save To Location, 63 00:03:31,290 --> 00:03:35,450 which means I'm going to get this info and write it back somewhere, and 64 00:03:35,450 --> 00:03:38,630 I'm going to write it back to a shared location, and then I'm going to 65 00:03:38,630 --> 00:03:42,640 retrieve info about about the servers. 66 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:46,120 Part two of this is to actually create the report file. 67 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:49,900 So I'm actually going to say create me a report, I'm going to use the 68 00:03:49,900 --> 00:03:53,920 location variable that we already set, which is the shared drive, and then 69 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:58,470 I'm going to create a report passing in the name option, 70 00:03:58,470 --> 00:04:01,440 which is a variable that we populated in the previous one. 71 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:03,840 And then I'm going to say create me a new report, 72 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:08,400 call it Device Report, and then you can see I'm adding content to this file, so 73 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:12,160 this log file will have a section called Desktop Details, 74 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:15,950 Manufacturer Details, and Operating System Details, and then 75 00:04:15,950 --> 00:04:21,040 write the values from the executed commands. 76 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:23,290 Now, if we look at how this works, 77 00:04:23,290 --> 00:04:28,650 if I'm using a single kind of remote session, then what I can do 78 00:04:28,650 --> 00:04:32,370 is actually obviously invoke the command and say this is my 79 00:04:32,370 --> 00:04:34,820 computer and then run this information, 80 00:04:34,820 --> 00:04:37,720 which is great, but we're using a PowerShell script so 81 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:38,990 this is going to look differently. 82 00:04:38,990 --> 00:04:42,760 So you can see from here that my script, notice that I'm 83 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:45,680 using a shared location to get the script, 84 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:49,830 remember that if you've got a script on your machine, trying to execute it 85 00:04:49,830 --> 00:04:53,780 on a remote machine is a bit more complicated because the script doesn't 86 00:04:53,780 --> 00:04:57,170 have a path to execute because it's on my machine, 87 00:04:57,170 --> 00:04:59,960 not, obviously, on the other machine. 88 00:04:59,960 --> 00:05:03,150 So to get around this we can actually create a file share, 89 00:05:03,150 --> 00:05:06,370 store the ps1 file or the PowerShell script, and then 90 00:05:06,370 --> 00:05:09,510 call that script in the Invoke‑Command. 91 00:05:09,510 --> 00:05:11,190 So that means, for example, 92 00:05:11,190 --> 00:05:14,470 I'm connecting to the Active Directory server here, and I'm setting the 93 00:05:14,470 --> 00:05:19,900 FilePath to the UNC or shared path of the PowerShell script and having it 94 00:05:19,900 --> 00:05:24,870 execute there. Now if we're doing multiple sessions, 95 00:05:24,870 --> 00:05:28,320 because obviously this is the ideal approach here, the first thing 96 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:30,430 we'll do is define our set of computers again, 97 00:05:30,430 --> 00:05:32,690 so you can see I'm using the same variables, 98 00:05:32,690 --> 00:05:37,540 so I'm using my Member Server 01, 02, and 03 IP addresses. 99 00:05:37,540 --> 00:05:41,090 I can then say invoke the command if I'm using a ScriptBlock, 100 00:05:41,090 --> 00:05:42,450 which we've seen before. 101 00:05:42,450 --> 00:05:48,830 So how does this change with the ps1? Well, we simply say script equals, back 102 00:05:48,830 --> 00:05:53,360 to that same UNC path, and then we just use Invoke‑Command. 103 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:55,980 So Invoke‑Command, ‑ComputerName, 104 00:05:55,980 --> 00:06:05,000 pass in the object that contains all the computers and the FilePath to the UNC, and then it will go ahead and execute that script.